Hi guys,
so this started out as a piece of leaf spring( I can hear the groans already) something I have never worked with.
after forging out was cycled to a dull orange and held about 2 min, allowed to air cool x2. then heated to non-magnetic and judging by color, a little past; quenched in 104 f canola oil. edge first about 7 seconds then full immersion. came out file trying to dig in. back to the forge, slowly heated back to where I had been, this time held there a little longer about 2 min, same quenching procedure . did not check oil temp though. came out fully hardened. note the spot near the tip, not the forge scale. the quality of the photo does not really show what appears to be nickle.
Sorry ,no thermocouple and of course un known steel, did I over heat the tip? any takers? thank you, George the newbie
I don't see any pics.... so I'm just guessing here.
First, depending on how you see "dull orange", you likely were not hot enough. Next, any length of "soak time" on steel is at best a gamble..... IF you're at or above critical temp for the given steel, the grain is growing like popcorn....if held at temp for minutes, the blade might harden, but the grain is gona be so large that the blade has been considerably weakened due to the enlarged grain structure.
The most common visual clue that you've overheated is what will appear as "spots" or "puddle" looking shapes on the steel.
OK, all that being said, it's impossible to nail any portion of what you did right or wrong, without first knowing specifically what the steel is..... so in the end, everything I said is best guess/speculation.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
|quoted:
I don't see any pics.... so I'm just guessing here.
First, depending on how you see "dull orange", you likely were not hot enough. Next, any length of "soak time" on steel is at best a gamble..... IF you're at or above critical temp for the given steel, the grain is growing like popcorn....if held at temp for minutes, the blade might harden, but the grain is gona be so large that the blade has been considerably weakened due to the enlarged grain structure.
The most common visual clue that you've overheated is what will appear as "spots" or "puddle" looking shapes on the steel.
OK, all that being said, it's impossible to nail any portion of what you did right or wrong, without first knowing specifically what the steel is..... so in the end, everything I said is best guess/speculation.
Mr Caffery,
I am sorry that the pictures did not upload; I need to become more savvy there.
Yes indeed , they are a couple of spots on the blade, getting ready to finally set up my own work space , a thermo-couple will be part of my forge. and no I do not usually ever use unknown steels, but someone gave me this huge truck spring and I wanted to see what it was like.
I have been using mostly 1084 for the last few years with predictable results ,and I think I just need to stay there .
best regards, stay warm, George
